


I Am the Law

by UnwelcomeStorm



Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: Crossover, Escalation, FFTA, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:08:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22981513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnwelcomeStorm/pseuds/UnwelcomeStorm
Summary: It's not Taylor's job to fight battles, only to referee them. (Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Judge!Taylor)
Comments: 38
Kudos: 261





	1. Chapter 1

Justice. Noun. Plural justices. First definition: just behavior or treatment. Rather recursive, but quickly explained: what is _just_ is the quality of being fair and reasonable, and _justice_ is the administration of law in maintaining this quality.  
  
Second definition: a judge.  
  
Taylor closed the tab, then with a touch of paranoia wiped the browser history from the computer, tucked into the corner of Mrs. Knott’s class. She shivered, and tugged her hoodie in a little tighter. _Judge_. Just the word sent cold tingles across her scalp, made phantom horns intrude on her peripheral vision. Taylor glanced around nervously, but all the other students were busy tapping at their own keyboards, as she’d known they would be. Her power was ever-present and ready to be called on, and invisible until she did, but the urge to check and make sure no one was looking was a reflex. Between her new secrets and her old problems, Taylor felt her nerves being run ragged. It was worth it, though.  
  
Or would be. Probably. She was working on it.  
  
And her old problems continued to work at her, as her favorite trio of parasitic barnacles hemmed Taylor in against a wall of the hallway. They must have enjoyed this the last time they’d done so-- or, Taylor thought, with a sliver of dread swimming into her stomach, Emma and her cronies hadn’t been the only ones to notice Mr. Gladly turning his back on them. On her. From the sweet, satisfied smile Emma was sporting, Taylor thought so.  
  
 _Forbidden: Emma. Recommended: Bitchslap._ The redhead started talking, and no infractions piled up. Drat. Would it be an abuse of power if she actually added that to the Book, next time she brought it out? At the very least it would surely out her, if Taylor used her power like that so openly. What would the penalty even be, for unlawfully existing as Emma Barnes? Other than being Emma Barnes, of course.  
  
The thought brought a smile to Taylor’s face, which made Emma scowl in response, and even reach out a hand to push her shoulder, bumping Taylor back against the wall. That made Taylor tense up, even when she knew that nothing would happen: as far as her powers were concerned, she wasn’t ‘on the clock.’ Her flinch and refocus unfortunately also brought her attention back onto what Emma was actually saying.  
  
Taylor left school in a bit of a hurry, after that. It didn’t bear repeating.  
  
It was only the last period she was skipping, Taylor assured herself. Nobody would care. And her father wouldn't be home for another four hours or so... which left Taylor with a good amount of free time. Time that she could put to good use, certainly to better use than sitting in the back of Miss Mahoney's social studies class. And as long as she didn't let herself hesitate, time she could use to experiment. Taylor hefted her backpack and walked as quickly as she could to the nearest bus stop, already “tuning in” to the strange senses granted by her power.  
  
It wasn't much, as far as what PHO's resources termed a Thinker power, but it certainly felt like an essential first step that she needed to take. An itching sense of _go over here_ that she couldn't quite place, once in a while growing stronger if she neared whatever destination her power was leading her towards. Today it was finally time to figure out what that sense was for. Taylor stayed on the bus as it lumbered towards the Boardwalk, that feeling of _go here_ getting firmer and clearer with every passing street. On the far edges of the Boardwalk's strip mall, the GO HERE suddenly lurched and vanished. Taylor grabbed for the bus's pull cord, missed, and grabbed for it again, signalling the driver to let her off. Her power's sense had suddenly turned from a sense of direction, to an almost-image in her head: sand pouring through an hourglass. A... a time limit? No: a countdown.  
  
Taylor scrambled off of the bus and onto the sidewalk, but everything looked normal. Maybe not as busy as it could be, but it was January, and the post-Christmas returns crowds had thinned to almost nothing. The sands kept falling. Not much time left. Taylor bit her lip, then ducked into the nearest alleyway and looked for the cleanest space possible to stash her backpack. Damnit, she really should have dropped this off at home first... but, that sense had been pulling at her. Apparently she needed to be here _now_ , not later.  
  
Or rather, the Judge needed to be here.  
  
Taylor let out a slow breath, and concentrated. Her real power folded itself over her, wrapped around her limbs and her torso and her head. Taylor saw phantom horns intrude on her vision before that went dark. Just for a moment, thankfully. When Taylor opened her eyes the change was finished: the wasn't a beanpole teenage girl in the alleyway anymore. There was only the Judge, a towering figure in full plate armor, with an ornate greatsword at her back and the Book of Law chained at her waist. Taylor reached a gauntleted hand up and scraped metal fingers against the faceplate of her helmet. It refused to budge, just like last time. It didn't obscure her vision as she would expect it to, and between that and the armor's immovable nature Taylor actually harbored some doubts as to whether or not her body was even _in_ the armor, as opposed to becoming it.  
  
The growing sounds of a commotion broke Taylor out of her musing, and brought immediately to her attention that there were only a few grains left in that hourglass she kept picturing. A loud crash, followed by screams, confirmed that it was time.  
  
The Judge walked out of the alleyway and into the street. In the time since she'd ducked out of sight, things had gotten a bit hectic. A black PRT van was in the process of dropping off the Wards, who were riding out to meet-- uh. Taylor eyed the giant with the drill-hand that was in the middle of breaking apart the side of a jewelry store. There was a man near its feet, dressed in casual attire that looked like it had been liberated from the 1950's, with the exception of the reddish glove (she hoped it was a glove) that covered one arm and was currently leaking bees. Something small floated up above them, which Taylor quickly recognized as a camera. That made these two Uber and Leet, doing another costumed crime stunt. Right-- that made much more sense than the bees.  
  
On the other side of the street, Gallant, Aegis, and Clockblocker had finished scrambling out of the van and were ready to battle. Neither group seemed to have noticed her yet. The last grains of sand fell through. Taylor nodded, then lifted a steel whistle to her helmet.  
  
  
 _ **FWEEEEEEEEE**_  
  
  
Heads turned towards the sound, Uber even breaking off whatever one-liner he'd been throwing out. The Judge raised one arm high into the air.  
  
“Today's laws! Forbidden: Flight! Recommended: Blasters!”  
  
The Judge eyed the collected groups, then brought her hand down. “ENGAGE!”  
  
The first reaction anyone could summon up was laughter, coming from speakers on the front of what had to be Leet's robot or powered suit. “Really? Leave the grandstanding to the professionals, lady. Uber! I've got the boy scouts, you go meme on this clown.”  
  
“On it, Mr. Bubbles,” was Uber's reply, which in Taylor's estimation should have provoked much more laughter than her proclamation. Bitterness would have to wait for when she wasn't working. Uber took two steps forward, even as his partner surged forward towards the Wards. He had a wrench in one hand, but the villain shunned it in favor of holding his gloved arm up. Uber took aim, and deployed the bees. Hopefully they were Tinkertech drones and not actual bees, because they were a vivid red and roughly the size of Taylor's thumb. The bees formed a cloud of angry buzzing, and zoomed towards her.  
  
“Infraction! Red card!” The Judge called out, even as she whipped her sword around and cut it through the swarm of bees. The swarm dispersed under the assault, confused and buffeted away by her power. Then the judgement took effect.  
  
Glowing chains wrapped themselves around Uber, appearing from thin air. The cape yelled, and Taylor heard him curse as his struggles failed to dislodge his bindings. The chains abruptly vanished, and took Uber with them. Taylor felt part of her power's senses let her know that the Book of Law at her waist was updating itself, now that Uber was confined to her jail and awaiting sentencing.  
  
Attacking the Judge was an automatic Red-level infraction. It said so right in the Book. At least ever since Taylor had written it in there.  
  
Leet started yelling, but Taylor ignored him in favor of locking her sights onto Aegis. The red-suited hero had flown up to the bulbous head of Leet's contraption, and flight was against the law today. She'd warned him. “Infraction! Yellow card!”  
  
A Yellow card wasn't cause for imprisonment, at least until you had 5 of them, but there was still a penalty. The moment the judgement took effect, Aegis faltered and nearly dropped out of the air for a second. He regained his-- not _footing_ , but that was the best word Taylor could think of for it-- quickly enough and resumed his assault on Leet, who was trying to bat the hero out of the air and make his ungainly way towards her. Aegis was still flying, which was going to be a problem if he kept it up.  
  
“Infraction! Yellow card!” She called out, and this time Aegis did fall out of the air. Taylor saw the Ward captain's head turn towards her. Hopefully that meant he was listening, and not about to--  
  
A ball of something, like compressed air and colored light, shot towards her and splashed harmlessly against her armor. Oh. Oh no. The penalty for attacking the Judge was _automatic_. Glowing chains sprang into being around Gallant, the Ward trying to call out a warning as he, too, went to jail. Taylor saw Clockblocker start running towards her, hand outstretched and ready to tag her with his power.  
  
“Stop! Attacking the Judge is an automatic--!” She tried to warn him, but the Ward reached her too quickly. His power broke harmlessly against her armor and prompted a set of chains to bind him. “--...red level infraction... Oh dear.” Oh no. Oh no it was getting worse. The Book silently updated itself, letting her know that Clockblocker was now safely ensconced in a cell, courtesy of impartial justice.  
  
“Alright, whoever you are, let's stop this! Okay?!” Aegis called out to her. Behind him, Leet was quickly making tracks as he fled the scene, but the Wards captain considered the Judge to be the more pressing matter. That was a bit of a shame, but Retreat wasn't against the law today, so there was nothing she could do about it. “Let Clockblocker and Gallant go!”  
  
The Judge hesitated. Her power was telling her that this fight was over, but that not-really-there hourglass had appeared again in her mind's eye, and was ticking down. Another fight was on the way, right here. But there were a couple of minutes yet before that. The Judge slung her awkwardly-shaped sword back onto her back, and reached for the book that was hung by chains at her waist.  
  
The Book of Law was a sort of... accessory to her power. Flipping through it previously, it had been mostly empty, save for the regulations that mostly explained the Judge's role in arbitrating fights. The amount of penalty for Yellow infractions, for instance, or the merits for Green card awards. And of course the hand-written addition to the High Laws that Taylor had added, which had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Now that she'd passed judgements, however, a few pages had been filled. Taylor flipped several pages until she found the one that now detailed Clockblocker. There was a fine sketch of the young cape, as well as various bits of information: the Ward's height, weight, affiliation (Protectorate ENE, Wards), and a description of his power. Below that was the information on today's encounter. Taylor gestured to Aegis, beckoning him towards her. The hero tensed up, but walked slowly over to her, until he stood close enough to her shoulder that she could show him the book.  
  
“Both Gallant and Clockblocker have been jailed on one count of Attacking the Judge.”  
  
“And that's you?”  
  
“Yes. The penalty for attacking the Judge is 5 years imprisonment...” Beside her, Aegis tensed further. “...or the sentence can be commuted by paying a fine of $50,000.”  
  
“You're ransoming them.”  
  
“It's not ransom. It's a criminal penalty. They can also choose to serve their sentence.” Taylor flipped a couple of pages, and whatever Aegis was about to say was stifled by the sight of his own image, sketched into the book. “And you have two Yellow infractions. The first carries a fine of $500, and the second $1000, doubling each level. So, you will need to pay me $1500 or do 75 hours of community service to regain your powers.”  
  
“...I'm sorry, what?”  
  
Taylor huffed, impatient. That hourglass was ticking down, ever faster. “You've accrued two Yellow infractions, and your Flight power has been penalized accordingly. You'll need to pay the fine or serve the time to remove that penalty.”  
  
Aegis' jaw tightened, visible even with his mask. “You can't just kidnap heroes. You need to let them go, and this can all be over.”  
  
“They can't leave until their sentence has been carried out.” Taylor closed the Book, the pages coming together with a loud _whap_ that made Aegis jump. “Now if you will excuse me, there is another engagement I need to arbitrate...”  
  
A sudden, horrible thought occurred to Taylor. The hourglass was running out, but the location was still here. And just because she hadn't _heard_ him do it... She turned to Aegis, her voice low. “You didn't... call for backup, did you?”  
  
Aegis backed up a couple of paces, his jaw still set. In the distance, but getting closer, was a _whup-whup-whup_ sound. “Just let them go.”  
  
“You didn't... tell the Protectorate to attack me, did you? Because I believe I've made the results of that action clear.” Oh no. Oh no no nooooo. The sounds got louder and Aegis backed up another step, as the first helicopter appeared above the nearby strip mall. The sands in the hourglass drained down to nothing as the Protectorate moved in.  
  
Damn it. So much for the friendly first impression she'd hoped for.


	2. Chapter 2

Space bent and shifted long enough to accommodate another empty dungeon cell between the ones currently occupied by Miss Militia and Gallant, and in response ethereal chains flashed into and out of being just long enough to deposit Dauntless into his new home. The hero stumbled towards the bars of his cell, taken off guard by the sudden deactivation of his boots' powered flight. “What? What happened?”

Across the hall, Uber leaned against the bars of his own cell and drawled, “You got memed on, son.”

* * *

“Would you like some more lasagna, Taylor?”

“Sure, thanks.”

It was the extent of their dinner conversation. Danny Hebert was consumed with thoughts of his job and the unending plight of the Dockworkers, and Taylor Hebert was currently consumed with the thought of the 7 Protectorate heroes, 3 Wards, 6 unpowered PRT troopers, and 4 impounded vehicles currently awaiting sentencing inside her Book of Law.

Realistically, Taylor knew that vanishing the majority of the local Protectorate and then fleeing the scene was not her best decision ever, but it really had seemed like she'd had no other choice. Was she just supposed to stand there and wait for even more heroes to arrive and fling themselves face-first into prison? Most of New Wave could fly and that was against the law today, they'd be toast. Backing out of Vista's spacial distortion and vanishing around a corner so she could get home before Dad got off work had seemed like the best way to disengage.

Come to think of it... how had Taylor managed to escape, anyway? She'd arrested the first wave of heroes and PRT responders, then just _legged it_ the second the hourglass in her head vanished. It had immediately popped back up, signaling another wave of hostilities, and running away from that pull had been nearly physically painful. Then there was a bit of a mental fuzzy area and the next clear memory was her scrambling into one of Brockton's underfunded public transports before the bus could leave without her. She wasn't sure when, exactly, she'd stopped being the Judge but she really, really hoped there hadn't been any cameras. Did her power have a way to keep the Judge from being caught? Because if situations like today were possibly going to repeat then that would be very useful. Taylor resolved to spend more time as the Judge, she needed to figure out the fine details of her power.

She also needed to figure out how she was going to get all those heroes out of jail. The PRT surely had the ability to pay the fines, so if she could just find a way to get in contact with them (and not have it devolve immediately into more heroes breaking the law) then that would allow her to release most of her prisoners safely.

Not for the first time, Taylor thanked her lucky stars that she'd had the foresight to spend her starting budget on lowering the penalty for attacking the Judge. She liked being safe, but she also felt that 'immediate execution' was a little extreme a response. And that was _before_ the majority of the local Protectorate had attacked her. Imagine if she'd had to execute all of them! It would throw the local balance way out of whack.

Taylor paused in the middle of chewing a piece of garlic bread to review that last thought. If she hadn't re-written that Law, she would have killed a bunch of heroes. Oh.

She had instead _kidnapped_ a bunch of heroes. Oh no.

She had kidnapped a bunch of heroes _including the Wards_ and now the Protectorate was going to bring the Triumvirate down on her! _Oh noooooo._

Taylor finished chewing and swallowed heavily, feeling like her stomach was full of lead. Maybe this wasn't a complete crisis. Maybe the rumor that if you hurt a Ward you'd get personally smote by Legend was just that, a rumor. Taylor took a deep drink of her glass of water as her father finished up his dinner, put his plate in the sink, and headed out to the living room. Taylor heard the TV click on and start broadcasting the evening news:

“--return to our top story tonight, the abduction of several local Protectorate heroes including three of the Wards. Legend arrived at the Brockton Bay Protectorate base about an hour ago, and was overheard promising to personally smite the villain responsible.”

_Crap_.

* * *

“ _Protectorate Headquarters East-Northeast in Brockton Bay, how may I direct your call_?”

Well, do or die time, Taylor. She’d managed to slip out of the house around 11, after she'd heard snores starting to emanate from her father's bedroom, and had booked it downtown as fast as the never-tiring Judge's legs could take her. Given that Legend was in town and oh, also she'd kidnapped most of the hero roster, Taylor had decided that sooner was better than later. Hence her finding a payphone in the dead of night and proceeding to call the Protectorate hotline. “I need to speak to a high-ranking member of the Brockton Bay Protectorate, please.”

“ _Ma’am, this is the public access line, I cannot connect you with a local hero unless you have an appointment and a verification code given by a Protectorate member_.”

“I am in possession of 7 Protectorate heroes, 3 Wards, 6 unpowered PRT troopers, and 4 impounded PRT vehicles. I need to arrange a transfer of prisoners. If you cannot connect me with a hero, then would you please transfer me to someone who can?”

“ _Please hold_ ,” the operator said, her tone suddenly quite urgent. Elevator music started playing. Taylor sighed, and gave the nearby street and its slow trickle of late-night gawkers a sideways glance. The few people around to see her quickly put distance between themselves and the Judge. Taylor couldn’t really blame their reaction; even in the Bay, it wasn’t every day that you saw a heavily-armored parahuman using a payphone. Taylor listened to the continuing tuneless music and drummed her gauntlet-clad fingers on the top of the phonebooth.

Actually, with how… _enthusiastic_ her power was proving to be, maybe it was a good time to consider getting a cell phone of her own. It'd beat having to cough up some quarters every time she arrested someone.

The hold music continued to meander, and after a couple of minutes a growing _whup-whup-whup_ sound from somewhere else started to overcome the recording. Taylor actually banged her helmet against the top of the payphone's booth. _Not again!_

The sound of approaching helicopters grew louder, and Taylor hung up the phone, deeming it a lost cause. She was just about resigned to the idea of jailing even more people when she realized something: there was no countdown. That meant they wouldn't fight her! Hopefully! Or at least not immediately. She'd take that.

As the lights on the first (or third, if she was counting the whole of the day) helicopter came into view, a sudden bright bloom of light from behind her caught Taylor's attention, and she turned to see Legend himself floating a dozen feet up in the air. Taylor waved at him. He did not wave back. She decided that it was probably best to try and take control of the situation, before he got on with the smiting.

“Ah, Legend!” she called out to him, “I would assume you are of sufficient authority to negotiate a release of prisoners?”

“So you _are_ the one who abducted them,” was his reply, which Taylor thought was not conductive to negotiations. She took a moment to try and quell her terror with the Judge's calm as Legend continued, “If you release your prisoners _immediately_ you won't get the Birdcage.”

“I can only release them after their crimes have been paid for, in time or monetary damages,” Taylor replied, wincing inside her helmet. “I do not wish to hold them indefinitely. Please come down and negotiate, I bear you no ill-will.”

“If you didn't resent the Protectorate, maybe you shouldn't have abducted a bunch of heroes.”

“What choice did I have? They broke the law!” Taylor shouted up at Legend, her helmet making her voice ring. “Attacking the Judge is an _automatic_ red-level penalty! I warned them not to!”

_Seriously_. Why was this so hard to understand? The heroes were supposed to uphold the law! If they broke it, the Judge wasn't going to go easy on them! If anything, they deserved harsher punishments for breaking their sworn oaths (that Taylor assumed they had). Taylor pulled her thoughts away from intreospection and back to the present, to find an odd expression on Legend's face as the hero appraised her. “Are you willing to come peacefully to the Rig so we can sort this out?”

_Finally_. “Of course. As the Judge it is not my place to start fights, only to arbitrate them. People will only be jailed if they attack me or repeatedly flout the laws.”

Legend kept his eyes on her even as he moved one hand to his ear, in a motion that Taylor assumed meant he was using a headphone or similar communication device. More importantly, no hourglass preassed itself into her thoughts, so Taylor was content to stay where she was as first Legend, then a helicopter landed nearby. The Judge boarded the vehicle and sat in silence opposite the leader of the Triumvirate as the helicopter brought the both of them to the modified oil rig that served as the local Protectorate base. Well, silence until Legend decided to speak-- Taylor certainly was't going to interrupt him. “Why did you take the local heroes?”

“I already explained, attacking the Judge is an automatic red-level penalty. I did not _take_ anyone, they _chose_ to violate the law.”

Legend nodded, his hand straying again to his ear. After a few moments he spoke again, his jaw tight, “And what was this about a yellow penalty?”

Ah, he was just confused, not hostile. Taylor felt herself relax a bit inside the Judge. “Yellow cards represent infractions, violations of the law. Five yellow cards are equal to a red card, or the equivilant of attacking the Judge. Any violator's power will be decreased by 20% for each yellow card they accrue.” The Judge nodded to herself, even as Legend's face tightened further. “Of course, obeying the law reaps benefits to an equal degree: green cards amplify relevant powers by 20% per card.”

Legend made a noncommital sound in his throat and kept one hand pressed to his ear, like he was prefering to listen to someone else over the Judge. Taylor huffed quietly and settled into silence.

* * *

“Alright, if you would sign here, and here...”

The Judge held the Book of Law open and steady, as Legend scribbled his name into it where prompted. The total fines for the Protectorate ENE came to $841,500.

It was a fair price. Including the Wards, that meant 10 heroes and 6 unpowered PRT troopers charged with attacking the Judge at 50k each, and 4 vehicles impounded at 10k each. Plus Aegis's two Yellow infractions; Vista's abilities hadn't been harmful enough to trigger the automatic penalty. Taylor was sure there was another Ward, Shadow Stalker, but they hadn't made an appearance this time. Probably for the best, really.

“So, Judge... have you considered--”

“I will not be joining your organization,” the Judge interrupted Legend, “Nor any other. My place is to be a neutral aribter, no more.”

“Yes, you've made that clear. But, it would be much easier for us to avoid braking your 'laws' if we knew what they were before a fight started, don't you agree?”

Legend's expression was strained. Taylor got the impression that he wasn't used to being told 'no,' even as the most personable of the Triumvirate. And honestly, if he'd shown up in front of Taylor, hair caught in a halo and with the aura of justice and peace around him bright as rainbows, she'd have agreed to joining the Wards in a heartbeat. But the Judge couldn't be partial.

But, that didn't mean she had to be secretive.

“You are correct. I will make sure to inform you of the day's Laws in advance,” the Judge intoned. “But for now, our business is concluded, and I will be on my way.”

Any ease that had come upon Legend or the remaining forces of the Protectorate ENE vanished. Taylor did her best to ignore it, and any offers of an escort off of the Rig. She didn't want to lead anyone to her home-- it'd completely defeat the point of being neutral, and put her and her father in danger as well. Instead, Taylor opened the Book of Law and flipped near to the back of the book, where the Budget section began. She'd spent nearly her entire starting budget on altering the penalty for attaking the Judge, but now she had $800k to spend and she knew exactly what she wanted to buy from the Book of Law's catalogue.

The Judge pressed her armored thumb to a small box next to one of the Cloak suggestions. At the top of the page, $500,000 deducted itself from her budget as a pale blue cloak emerged from the Judge's pauldrons and flowed down her back. Steadfastedly ignoring the PRT forces around her, Taylor grabbed the edge of the cape, gave it a dramatic swirl, and vanished.

Out of all the options in the Equipment Budget section of the Book of Law, this had been her primary goal. Teleportation was _awesome_! She almost couldn't wait to arrest more capes.

* * *

**[Welcome to the Parahumans Online Message Boards**

You are currently logged in, TheJudge (Unverified Cape)

You are viewing:

• Threads you have replied to

• AND Threads that have new replies

• OR private message conversations with new replies

• Thread OP is displayed

• Ten posts per page

• Last ten messages in private message history

• Threads and private messages are ordered by user custom preference.

■

**Topic: Today's Laws**

**In: Boards ► USA ► East Coast ► Brockton Bay ► General**

**TheJudge[** (Original Poster) (Unverified Cape)

Posted on January 25, 2011:

TODAY'S LAWS

Forbidden: Ranged

Recommended: Melee

**(Showing Page 1 of 1)**

**► Bagrat** (The Guy In The Know)

Replied on July 25, 2011:

Uh, what is this?

**End of Page. 1**

* * *

The cell block's empty air amplified every drip, every breath. Uber banged one fist against the bars of his cell. “Hello? Anyone?”

...

“At least it's not the Metal Gear prison, I guess. I didn't bring any ketchup.”


End file.
